The advent of the Internet has made available to users enormous amounts of information. In many instances, this information is presented in the format of webpages that present content and advertising. Improvements in search engines have helped to provide information related to what the user is looking for, yet this can still amount to more information than can be perused in a short period of time.
Social networks serve as one attempt to provide a way for users to find the information desired based on other users who have the same or similar interests. Rather than reviewing ranked lists of search results based on search terms, the user will have a greater likelihood of finding the desired information faster and with perhaps greater quality in the social network.
Social bookmarking is a technique for sharing bookmarks with other users who may have similar interests. Social bookmarking sites take advantage of a large user community where the community members can submit links and vote on links submitted by other members. These sites can use the voting behavior to “filter” the links and present the items ordered by popularity. The primary value to the user is access to high-quality information, rather than the barrage of information that includes a mix of interesting and uninteresting content. Moreover, such sites can provide a venue for deriving revenue based on more focused advertising to groups of users associated with a particular subject. However, with the ever-increasing number of datasources coming online, conventional social networks and bookmarking systems still lack the quality and effectiveness desired by the user.